Not That Guy, Not That Girl
by Inky Hula
Summary: Troy would never cheat on a girl. Gabriella would never be the "other woman." But as their lips grew closer and closer, suddenly all of their moral intentions flew out the window. CURRENTLY ON HIATUS
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything from _High School Musical_ or Eastern Music Festival.

**Not That Guy, Not That Girl**

**Chapter One**

* * *

Gabriella Montez released the breath that she had been holding in anticipation. "Wow," she exhaled.

"Wow is right," Elena Montez agreed.

"That giant poster is intense. And intimidating." She motioned to the banner that they had just passed of a man with graying hair in the midst of conducting, gesturing precisely.

Her mother chuckled. "At least you're not in orchestra."

"A fact that I'm thankful for every time I see some random kid lugging their instrument around." Her nose was pressed to the window, her eyes trying to take in the entire campus. "Wow, look at all these trees."

"I'm going to need you to help me, honey," Elena reminded. "Keep an eye out for registration signs."

"Mm-hm…" she reluctantly tore her gaze from taking in the sight of buildings and wide expanse of slightly yellowing grass and giant oak trees to focus on the narrow one-way road in front of them. A moment later, she exclaimed, "Oh my god, Mom, look! It's the building in that famous picture! On the website and the brochure! With those banners!"

Elena paused, turning her head to the right to peer out Gabriella's window. "Haha! Yeah, that's it!"

"Wow," Gabriella breathed once again. "Just…wow. I can't believe I'm here."

The sight of blue, red, and orange vertical banners hanging in between giant white columns of what she suspected was the entrance to a recital hall made it all the more real to her. She was really here, at the Eastern Music Festival.

She had been ecstatic when she received the acceptance letter a few months ago. She was finally going to another music camp, after three summers of being forced to move because of her mom's job yet again. Gabriella had missed going to a camp where she was surrounded by people similar to her—people that were also passionate about classical music. Taking lessons and going to group classes during the school year was just fine and dandy, but she yearned for interaction with musicians whose specialty was a different instrument. It had been too long since she could eavesdrop on conversations about the difficulty of the orchestra piece people were playing and the gossip about everybody's seating. Sure, it didn't really matter since she was a pianist, but she still thought it was fun. It was a bit of variety in a life that could sometimes be a bit dull.

A half hour later she was standing in the middle of her dorm's lobby, clutching the large folder emblazoned with her name, room number, and "PIANO" in large letters and the green daily planner she had been given by the registration people. Wide-eyed and overwhelmed, she turned to her mother. "So…um…I guess we'll just see where my room is first, and then go and get the stuff?"

"Sure," Elena agreed.

Turning on her heel down the first hallway she saw with her mother following, it was only a few steps later before she realized. "Um…is there an elevator? It's going to be kind of hard to lug all of my stuff upstairs."

"I hope so," her mother said uneasily. "Do you know how to get upstairs? Are there stairs or an elevator or what?"

"No idea." Gabriella felt stupid. How was she supposed to ask,_ how do I get to the freaking third floor?_ She would look like an idiot.

"Maybe we should ask someone, honey," Elena suggested.

Gabriella immediately opposed. "No, we don't need to, Mom. We'll just go through this door here, and look around. It can't be that hard."

"Nonsense," her mother remarked just as a mousey-looking girl with brown curls and black-rimmed glasses came through the door Gabriella had mentioned. "Um, excuse me!" she called out to the girl just as she was about to walk past them.

Gabriella felt a rush of embarrassment surge through her body and her cheeks flushed. "Wait, Mom," she tried to intervene.

"We were wondering," her mother ignored her, "how to get to an elevator? Or stairs?"

The mousey girl took a moment to respond, as if she wasn't sure if they were really talking to her. Gabriella quickly tried to diffuse the awkward situation. "Oh, if you're on your way to something, don't let us stop you. We'll be able to find it."

Mousey girl immediately replied in a quiet voice, "Oh no, I'm not on my way to anything. Um, the only stairs I know of are through this door and then on your left after you pass the counselor's office."

"Oh." Gabriella said, abashed. "Thanks."

Elena jumped in, "Yes, we weren't really sure of where it was! So there's no elevator?"

"I don't think so," mousey girl answered.

"Well, that just kind of sucks," Gabriella grumbled under her breath. "I have to lug like three suitcases upstairs?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah, I had to do that too. Well, good luck!" She started down the hall behind them towards the lobby.

Elena placed her hand on Gabriella's shoulder. "Making friends already!" She said with a smile on her face.

Gabriella forced one onto hers as well. "Let's just go find my room, Mom."

* * *

"I call the right side." Troy Bolton yelled.

"Which I guess means that I get the left." Chad Danforth replied bemusedly, a few steps behind him in entering the room.

After a few seconds of just standing in the middle of the dorm room, taking it all in, Troy slung his backpack onto his dark blue twin-sized mattress. "Dude…whoa."

"Whoa is right," Chad agreed, tossing the basketball he was cradling in an arm under his bed.

"I knew that this is way better than our orchestra in Albuquerque, never mind our school orchestra, but man, it's intense and we haven't even gotten the music for anything!" Troy exclaimed.

Chad laughed. "They gave us planners. Wow. Like, daily planners."

"Intense, yo."

"Yeah, definitely. Let's take a look."

Troy came to stand beside Chad at his desk. Flipping the periwinkle-blue cover of his planner open, Chad let out a snort at the first page. "Even the fucking first page makes it seem all intense. Property of? Instrument? Dorm? Room?"

"I guess it's just in case we lose it," Troy said practically.

As Chad continued to flip the pages, both pairs of the boys' eyes became wider and wider. "Rehearsals, seminars, damn there are practically concerts every night!" Chad realized.

"Rehearsals at nine in the morning? God, I can't even function that early. I'm not even awake at that time in the summer usually." Troy replied.

"Dude…you'll survive. You're fucking amazing." Chad shot a look at his best friend. "You'll probably be concertmaster and then the conductors won't mind if you're late."

"Chad…shut up. You're just as good. We both got in, anyways." Troy never understood why everybody thought that he was amazing.

Chad scoffed. "You shut up, man. Tell me how you do it? Be so good at violin _and_ basketball."

Troy contemplated. He wasn't a cocky guy by any means, but he _was_ somehow really good at the two almost polar-opposite things. For as long as he could remember he had been taking violin lessons on Wednesday afternoons and had basketball practice almost every single other day. Somehow, he managed to fit both activities in his life even as he approached his junior year of high school. And he loved both truly and equally, despite the taunts from his basketball teammates when they found out and the warnings of his violin teacher.

"I don't know, man. Hard work, I guess. Wanna go back and get our luggage? Holy shit, we left our violins out there!"

"Dude…everybody already has their own instrument here, why on earth would they want another violin?"

The question was met by a shove to the shoulder as Troy raced out of the room.

* * *

Gabriella and her mother were busily unpacking all of her clothes and such when a knock sounded on the door. Gabriella glanced at it and then turned to her mother. "Maybe it's my roommate!" Her eyes sparkled.

Elena nodded the head to the door. "Let her in, honey!"

Gabriella pranced to the door and pulled it open. In front of her stood an African American girl who was wearing a modest skirt and a polo while carrying a violin case in hand. With an anticipatory smile on her face, she asked, "You're Gabriella?"

"Hi! Oh my gosh, yes! And you're Taylor?"

"Yep, I am."

"It's so nice to meet you! Finally."

"Yeah, e-mails just aren't the same as face-to-face meeting." Taylor chuckled.

Elena cleared her throat. Startled, Gabriella exclaimed, "Oh, I'm sorry! Taylor, this is my mom. Mom, this is Taylor McKessie."

Elena stepped forward and offered her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Taylor."

Taylor shook her hand firmly and replied, "It's nice to meet you too."

Later, when Gabriella was assisting Taylor lug her four suitcases up the two flights of stairs to their floor, she found herself asking, "So, do you know anyone else that's here?"

"Mm-hmm," Taylor grunted as she pulled up her suitcase. As they came to a landing, she elaborated, "My boyfriend's here, and his best friend, and I think a couple of other people from my school."

"Wow." Gabriella felt behind. Taylor already knew so many people. She had some catching up to do. "That's a lot of people from one place."

"Don't worry, I'll introduce you to everybody."

"Do they all play violin?" Gabriella asked tentatively. She didn't have anything against violinists—in fact, she sometimes envied the closely they shared, but it would be nice to meet people who play other instruments too.

"Haha, well, my boyfriend and his best friend do. But the others—well, there are a few pianists, I think, so you'll have company."

As they entered the room again, Elena shoved Gabriella's last drawer shut and announced, "All done, Gabriella. I think we managed to put everything of yours away."

"Oh, thanks so much, Mom," Gabriella enthused.

Taylor began opening her suitcases and hanging up her clothes when Elena asked, "So, Taylor where are you from?"

"I go to East High School in Albuquerque." Her answer was muffled as the upper part of her body was engulfed in the medium-sized closet they shared.

"Oh!" Elena's eyebrows rose.

Gabriella narrowed her eyes. Her mom seemed unusually surprised. There were people from all over the world here—Gabriella knew her mom knew that. Her thoughts were interrupted as Elena continued, "That's a long way from here. How long was the flight?"

"Oh, I got here around nine hours after the plane took off in Albuquerque. There was a stop in Chicago though," Taylor nonchalantly replied.

Gabriella surmised, "Man, you must be tired."

"A little, not so much though," Taylor extracted herself from the closet. "I slept most of the time. How about you?"

"Oh, we're from Virginia," Elena jumped in before Gabriella had the chance to open her mouth. "It took us around six hours to drive here."

"It would have taken us less if Mom didn't get lost three times," Gabriella teased.

"Honey, you were helping me. Maybe if you'd done a little better in that job we would've gotten here earlier," Elena waved off her comment and returned her statement with a wink towards her daughter.

* * *

Pressing the side of her face to the door of a practice room on the first floor, Gabriella strained her ears. She couldn't hear anything, so she decided to take the plunge. Shifting her books to her other arm, she raised her right hand and firmly knocked on the wooden door twice. After ten seconds of no reply, she reached out and gripped the doorknob before the door swung inwardly swung open wildly and she was met by the tall figure of an older boy. "Oh!" she gasped. "I'm sorry—I didn't hear anybody practicing, so I thought—"

"It's alright," the boy chuckled. "Not many people can really hear me anyways," he gestured towards the bass that was supported by his other hand.

"Oh…well, I guess I'll just go find another room," she turned and had walked two steps further down the hall before she heard him yell, "Hey!"

Gabriella spun around to face him again. "Are you a pianist?" he asked.

"Um, yeah," she answered, unsure of his question.

"Oh. Then I guess I'll have to move out," he stepped back into the practice room and gestured for her to take the door. "I'll be just a few minutes."

"Wait!" she protested. "You don't need to."

He smiled up at her as he set his bow down on a stool standing in front of a black stand. "Oh, but I do. Pianists get priority over everyone else in rooms with pianos."

"Oh…I didn't know that."

"Yeah, well, since we can practice anywhere—like our rooms and the practice rooms upstairs that don't have pianos—it's not really fair if we take a room and a pianist isn't able to practice," he explained.

"Well…uh…thank you." She felt guilty as she watched him take several minutes to maneuver his bass into its case and pack up his stand.

He finally straightened up and flashed one more smile in her direction. "Seriously, it's no problem. So what's your name?"

"Gabriella."

"Joey." He offered his hand and they shook. "Where are you from?"

"Oh, northern Virginia, pretty close to D.C. actually," she answered. "You?"

"I'm from Connecticut," he offered as he began to wheel his bass towards the door. "I guess we'll see each other around, Gabriella. It was nice meeting you."

"It was nice meeting you too," she returned in earnest as she held the door open for him.

Once he was safely out in the hall, he said, "Have a nice practice!"

Gabriella couldn't help but grin and respond, "Thanks. I hope you'll find another free room."

Sighing, she let the door swing shut behind her and observed the details of the room for the time. It seemed to be of the same size of her dorm, and it contained the same things, as she swept her eyes over the closet shoved into the back corner and the two dark blue mattresses leaning up against it. The black piano stood in the center of the room and took up most of the space. She sat down and ran brushed her fingers over the keys as she read the gold lettering of the brand. "Essex," she mused. She'd never heard of that brand before.

She straightened her back and placed her feet firmly against the floor as she began to play scales. Finally, a hint of normalcy in a topsy-turvy day.

* * *

Troy and Chad thundered down the stairs into a practice hallway on the first level of the dorm. They had nearly finished unpacking and wanted to get out and meet people. As Troy pulled open a door and they busted through, he asked, "Taylor done unpacking yet?"

"She texted me to say almost," Chad replied as their steps slowed.

"She meet her roommate yet?"

"Dunno. Didn't say." Chad suddenly threw out his arm to stop both of them in their tracks. "Shit," he breathed.

Troy was startled. "What?"

"Listen," Chad whispered.

The sounds of the hallway slowly registered in his brain. All around him, to his left, right, front, and back, the reverberations of music wafted through the doors of the practice rooms. He heard the thundering chords of pianos and tinkles and chimes of percussion instruments, the rat-a-tat-tat of the snare drum. Everybody was amazing, which was evident as they slowly walked past each room and leaned towards the doors to get a closer listen.

"Fuck," Troy exclaimed. "This is mind-blowing."

"We're sure not in the Albuquerque Youth Symphony anymore." Chad replied as they walked. He suddenly rotated his body and rapped on a door to a room where the sounds of an extremely technical piece reached his ears.

"Chad!" Troy yell-whispered hoarsely. "What the hell are you doing? They're practicing!"

The door swung open then and a petite girl with long dark brown curls that were almost black appeared before them. "Hello?" she questioned, looking them up and down.

"Hey," Chad replied brusquely. "We just wanted to tell you that you sound really really awesome."

Troy noticed the way her cheeks flooded with color as she shyly replied, "Um…thanks." His eyes traveled further up her face until he noticed that her large chocolate eyes were boring straight into his.

He cleared his throat and confirmed, "Uh, yeah. We were just walking through and yeah. You sound amazing." Their gaze was held for what seemed like the longest time until she spoke.

"Thanks," she replied again.

Troy let his eyes run over the rest of her body. The conclusion he made was, _Nice_.

Chad jabbed his elbow into Troy's side and as Troy buckled he said, "Anyway, we'll let you get back to your practicing. See you later."

Her response of, "See you," faded as the door fell shut in front of her as Troy cursed, "Damn it, Chad, did you really have to jab me that hard?"

"Dude…she's amazing at the piano _and_ she's hot!"

Troy raised his eyebrows as he joked, "Does the name Taylor McKessie ring any bells? Girlfriend? Hello?"

"Shut up, man," was Chad's brisk reply. "I don't see _you_ protesting my comment. Anyway, speaking of the devil…" he trailed off as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a vibrating phone. "Taylor's done and she's standing at our door. Let's go back upstairs."

* * *

"Hey, babe," Chad greeted as they were met with the sight of her standing with her hand on her hip at their door. He pulled her into an embrace while Troy stuck his key in the lock. "Done unpacking?"

"Yup," she replied. "And everything's organized…" The door swung open. "…which is clearly the opposite of your room."

"Taylor, you're just the most OCD person we know," Troy volunteered. "Don't stress about our sub-par organizing skills. We did a decent job for _us_, you have to admit."

"Yeah, yeah…" she replied as he jumped onto his bed. "These beds are so high. They piss me off."

Chad chortled. "Why?"

"Because I can't just flop on them whenever I want to. I have to take the effort to climb on."

Troy laughed as well. "Just another example of your OCD."

"Hey, shut up, you." She cracked a smile. "Anyways, we have to wait for Gabriella before we go to dinner—I promised her I'd introduce you all."

"Who's Gabriella?" Chad asked.

"My roommate, remember? You guys were lucky that you got each other as roommates. Gabriella's from Virginia."

"Ah, okay," Chad replied. "Is she cool?"

"Yeah, she is," Taylor nodded. "Hey, Troy, you hear from Anna yet?"

"Shit!" he exclaimed. "I was supposed to text her once we got here."

Now it was Taylor's turn to snicker at Troy. "Way to forget your girlfriend, Bolton."

* * *

**AN:** I hope you enjoyed it. Please review!


	2. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything from _High School Musical_ or Eastern Music Festival.

**Not That Guy, Not That Girl**

**Chapter Two**

* * *

Gabriella bounced as she walked down the hallway toward her room. She had had a decent practice session, considering the circumstances of having spent half her day riding in a car to a completely new environment. She had channeled her focus on her scales and the concentration continued as she played through a few pieces. Auditions were required for all instruments and she polished the piece she had chosen. She was satisfied. Now, it was almost dinnertime and Taylor had agreed to meet her back in their room so they could go together.

Gabriella approached their door and twisted the doorknob. It was frozen in place. Sighing, she fumbled for her key. Did Taylor forget their agreement? She didn't want to go to dinner all alone and somehow find somewhere to sit with everyone staring at her. But as she bent down to place the key in the lock, a murmur of voices reached her ears. She heard Taylor's among a wash of maybe two or three others. Two or three other voices that sounded…distinctly deep, and therefore male.

As she struggled with her hand on the doorknob, it suddenly twisted and she was yanked forward, falling into the room as the door opened.

"Oh! Sorry, Gabriella!" Taylor exclaimed as she helped her up. "I have no idea why it was locked."

Gabriella straightened her back and her gaze fell on two boys, both of whom looked quite built. A mop of chestnut hair covered the head of the boy with stunningly blue eyes and one major afro was settled upon the African-American boy's head. She had seen those blue eyes before. She had also seen that afro before. "Well…hello again." The corners of her mouth turned upward in a smirk.

"Hey, it's the freakily amazing piano girl!" Afro boy grinned.

The other boy rolled his eyes. "Chad," he admonished.

Taylor looked back and forth between the pair of them and Gabriella. "Wait…you guys met already?"

Gabriella slung her bag onto her desk and then leaned against it, facing them. "Well, not properly, per se."

"Yeah, Chad here decided to barge in her room while she was practicing," blue eyes elaborated.

"Typical Chad," Taylor muttered under her breath.

Afro boy, whose name was apparently Chad, merely shrugged his shoulders. "Hey! We heard her in the hall and she's freaking amazing. I just _had_ to tell her that she was. You should take it as a compliment, actually."

Gabriella's smile grew wider. Chad amused her. "I did."

"Good," Chad grinned back at her.

"Anyway, let's do a proper introduction, then," Taylor suggested. "Gabriella, this is Chad, as you've probably already guessed," she pointed to afro boy. He gave a little wave. Gabriella giggled. "My boyfriend," Taylor continued.

"It's nice to meet you," Gabriella sincerely said.

"You too," he responded.

"And this is Troy," she pointed to blue eyes, whose own mouth had turned up into a smile. "Chad's best friend."

"And your friend too," he cheekily replied to Taylor.

"Yeah, yeah…" Taylor waved it off. She turned to the pair. "Troy, Chad, this is Gabriella, my roommate."

Chad mumbled under his breath, "Oh, it's not like we couldn't tell by the name on the door or anything."

"Shut up." Taylor swatted at Chad, who easily caught her wrist and turned her into his body for a hug. She squealed and squirmed as she tried to escape from his grasp. Giggling as he set her free, she told Gabriella, "In case you haven't noticed…they're insane. This one here," she gave Chad a light noogie, "a little more so than Troy."

Gabriella giggled at the pair. She thought that they were adorable together. Troy chuckled as well, although he was used to the playful relationship the two had.

Taylor finally stopped playing with Chad and immediately went to stand in front of the mirror which was attached to the back of their door. "So do you guys want to head to dinner now?" she asked as she straightened her hair and clothing.

Gabriella glanced at Troy and Chad. They nodded at her eagerly and she laughed again. She predicted that she would expand her life span by many years if she was going to hang around the two boys for the entire five weeks, due to the amount of laughter she had already giggled. "Yeah, it seems as if a few people are hungry here."

* * *

The foursome strolled down the lobby of the dorm. It was virtually empty. Two people were standing at the opposite ends of the ping-pong table to the right of the lobby, each with a paddle in hand. The TV was off, the couches were vacant, and there was no whirring of the handles of the foosball table. Gabriella, Taylor, Chad, and Troy watched the ping-pong game for a minute before turning to each other.

"I guess everyone's already at dinner," Gabriella mused.

Taylor glanced at her watch. "It's six o'clock. What time does dinner start, anyways?"

Chad and Troy each shrugged. Taylor sighed. "Oh, you boys are so useless."

Gabriella volunteered, "I think it said 5:30 in the planner. Oh, and isn't there convocation tonight?"

Chad asked, "What the hell is convocation?"

"It's basically where all these directors and official people give speeches, like, 'Welcome to EMF, blah blah blah, we know you're going to have a wonderful summer, blah blah blah.'" Troy said.

Chad stared at him. "How did you know that?"

"It might have been a vocab word this year in English," he replied nonchalantly.

"You actually paid attention in English? That class was lame."

Gabriella watched the exchange with a smile on her face. Chad noticed and queried, "Something funny, Gabriella?"

She coughed before she replied, "Not particularly."

"Mm-hm," Troy agreed sarcastically, a teasing smirk lifting the corners of his lips. "Just so you know, I _think_ she was laughing at you, Chad. Not insinuating anything, though."

"Hah. Hah. Oh, you're going to get it, Bolton—" he was cut off by Taylor exclaiming, "Hey guys, take a look at this!"

She stood in front of a small bulletin board attached to the wall directly to their left. The other three huddled around her. Posted neatly on the board were colorful fluorescent pieces of paper. A blue sheet was labeled "WORK STUDY" while several yellow ones notified people of "AUDITION TIMES AND PLACES." Taylor said, "Huh. Some people have their auditions today. It seems to be in alphabetical order…" she trailed off.

Troy's attention was immediately grabbed. "Oh crap. Really? Damn it, I'm a B." He shoved to the front of the little group. Inspecting the yellow sheets, it was a minute before he relaxed and let out a breath. "Phew. Thank god. Mine's tomorrow."

"Chad, yours is at 10:15." Taylor pointed out to her boyfriend.

He sent her a withering look. "Thanks, Mom."

"Just trying to be helpful!"

"And yours is at 1:20."

"_Thank_ you, Chad."

"No problem," he declared.

Troy noticed that Gabriella had become rather silent. "What time is your audition, Gabriella?" He prodded gently.

"Hm?" She shook herself back to earth. "Oh, it's at 10:40. I was just thinking of when I should get up so I can get enough practice time."

He chuckled. "I'm almost sure that you don't need that much time. What we heard before was friggin' amazing. Don't worry."

She smiled up at him. "I'm not really worried—I just want to properly warm-up in so I can go in feeling confident."

Taylor was gazing at Gabriella in wonder. It was very rare to meet a person who was as dedicated to her music as herself, but to Taylor it seemed like she had finally found a kindred spirit.

* * *

They ambled out the front of the dorm towards the dining hall conversing rambunctiously with laughter dispersing in the air every few seconds. Gabriella fell quickly into their little group, siding with Taylor in teasing arguments against the boys. They were getting to know each other quite well, and Gabriella couldn't help but feel that she had, to put in the most clichéd way, "known them forever." Chad was hilarious, pointing out funny or quirky things she would have never noticed had he not. Troy was more serious, but when Chad got him rolling his quick wit added to the humor. Taylor pretended to scold them but that was just it—pretending. Constantly grinning, Gabriella couldn't have asked for a better start to camp or better people to meet at the very beginning.

They approached a building that sign clearly labeled as "FOUNDER'S HALL." Chad pulled the door open, and in they went single-file, Troy holding the door open for the girls, only stepping inside once he was sure that no one else approached the double-doors after them.

A lounge surrounded them. To the left and right, comfortable looking couches invited them to sit. A few vending machines lined the walls. Tacked to the wall opposite them was yet another bulletin board with yellow sheets of paper fluttering around, clearly identical to the ones they had scrutinized back at the dorm.

"So I guess this is what they meant by that announcements would be posted at the dorms and at Founder's," Gabriella mused.

Murmurs of agreement reached her ears as they stepped into the cafeteria. A woman was standing at a cashier to their immediate right at the entrance, reading a thin paperback novel. Upon seeing them, she smiled and greeted, "Can I have your cards, please?"

It took a moment for Taylor to register that she was asking them for the Quaker Cards that they had been assigned when they registered at the dorms. The cards would be used to purchase food at the cafeteria, unlock the dorms' outer doors, and in general just identify them as EMF students. She slid the card out of the holder attached to the vivid red lanyard they had also been given just for storing the card and carrying their key around.

"Thank you," Taylor said politely after the women had scanned her card at the register.

"No problem, and welcome to EMF!" she cheerily replied while scanning Gabriella's card.

They gathered food onto their plates and walked past a salad bar and then a dessert bar. The girls hesitated at the first, while the boys blatantly drooled at the second. Taylor giggled and gave them a slight push in the direction of the tables. "You guys can get dessert after we're done eating."

They scanned the tables, looking for places to sit by people that looked to be around their status. Their status, meaning "cool" but not excessively peppy, and not excessively nerdy either. The boys started towards a table with a few people chatting animatedly but Gabriella spotted a single girl sitting at a round table, eating by herself. She looked lonely. Her head was bowed and she picked at her food. Gabriella empathized; she herself had often been that lonely girl sitting by herself at the lunch table since she had moved around so much. She instinctively grabbed Taylor's arm and pulled. "Hey. Let's go sit with her."

The boys, already a step towards the other table, looked back at them confusedly. "Hey, where are you guys going?" Troy asked.

Gabriella yanked her head toward the girl. "Come on," she implored.

Bewilderment was written upon Chad's face. "Why?"

Taylor was hesitant also. "Gabriella, are you sure…"

"Yes, I'm sure," Gabriella snapped. "That girl is lonely, and doesn't know anybody, unlike us privileged people. She's probably sad and that only exacerbates her homesickness that she's probably feeling. Come on."

The three's eyebrows were still raised as high as they could go, Troy's almost at the top of his forehead. Gabriella sighed exasperatedly. She had _thought_ that maybe her new friends would be different, and understand the girl's situation, but maybe she had been wrong. She let go of Taylor's arm and turned resolutely towards the girl's table. "Fine," she called over her shoulder. "You guys can go eat with them. I'm sitting with her."

"Um…hi." Gabriella said softly to the girl. "Can I sit with you?"

The girl, who had long shiny light brown hair and wide green eyes, looked up, surprised. "Are you talking to me?"

Gabriella giggled. "Yeah. I was just looking for a place to sit and…"

The girl immediately cut her off and said, "Sure!" A smile spread across her face. She really was quite pretty.

Gabriella pulled out a chair next to the girl and set her plate down. "So…what's your name?"

"Diana. And what's yours, can I ask?"

"I'm Gabriella. It's nice to meet you." They grinned at each other, and then simultaneously ducked their heads down to take a bite out of the biscuits on their plates.

While Gabriella chewed, she looked over to where Taylor, Chad, and Troy were still standing. They seemed to be in the midst of an argument. Or a serious discussion, to put it mildly. Chad seemed to be throwing his hands up in the air a lot and Taylor seemed to be doing a lot of eye-rolling. Troy was just standing there, calmly putting his two cents in. Gabriella chuckled. Diana followed her line of sight and upon seeing the three, asked, "Do you know them?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Kind of. I mean, I just met Taylor—that's the girl. She's my roommate. And she introduced me to the guys."

"You're lucky you know people already." Diana commented quietly.

"And you don't?"

"I don't know _anyone_ at all. Not a single soul."

"Hey! That's not true," Gabriella responded.

"It is, believe me. No one knows me, and I don't know anybody."

"Glad to know I'm no one, then," Gabriella teased.

"Oh!" Diana gasped. "I'm sorry—I didn't mean to offend you there. What I meant was, I don't know anybody else, so—"

"Diana! Chill," Gabriella said with a wide smile. She stabbed her fork into her vegetables and as she brought it up to her mouth she said, "I know what you mean."

They conversed for a few minutes, asking the standard get-to-know-you questions. Gabriella was so used to these, due to moving around so much, she could probably just recite all the answers in one chunk to make it easy. She had forgotten, however, and was taken by surprise when the questions turned to subjects of music. It really was nice being in a classical music environment.

They were interrupted by the appearance of the three from Albuquerque. To Gabriella's surprise, it was Troy that seemed to have led the other two to the table. Chad and Taylor stood back a few steps from Troy. "Hey, Gabriella, can we sit here?"

_Wow_, Gabriella thought. _Troy_…_maybe he's different._

"Of course," she said graciously.

* * *

**I miss u babe**

Troy snapped his phone shut and looked around the auditorium. Thirty seconds later, his phone vibrated and he eagerly flipped it open.

**Miss u 2. how is it so far?** The screen was illuminated. Troy quickly typed back.

**Pretty good. having alot of fun.**

He shut his phone and glanced around the auditorium again.

Towards the end of dinner, Gabriella had realized with a shock that convocation was to start at seven pm. She had realized at six forty-five. The five—Gabriella, Taylor, Chad, Troy, and Diana—jumped out of their seats as fast as they could and ran out of the building. They ran for thirty seconds along a random pathway before realizing that none of them knew how to get to Dana Auditorium, where convocation was to be held. Taylor had quickly waved over an adult on a golf cart, who was wearing a neon yellow jacket that read SECURITY, and asked for directions. They arrived at Dana red-faced and out of breath, only to discover that convocation hadn't started yet. _Typical concerts_, Diana had muttered. _Always starting late._

They had filed into a row halfway down the theater. Diana moved towards the middle of the row, and Gabriella, Taylor, Chad, and Troy followed in that order. Now, the girls were chatting and giggling as if they had known each other for years, and the boys…well, the boys _were _sort of chatting. Just not to each other.

Troy glanced over at Chad who also had his phone open. He craned his neck and squinted to read the screen.

Chad smacked his head away.

"Ow!" Troy exclaimed. "What the hell was that for?"

"You were trying to be all smooth and read over my shoulder without me noticing." Chad rolled his eyes.

"I just wanted to know who you were texting."

"Zeke." Chad answered. "He's baking some random shit."

"Hey," Troy pointed out. "You happen to like a lot of his 'random shit.'"

"True," Chad shut his phone, finished typing his message, and stretched in his seat. "But still."

Troy had been distracted, as his phone vibrated yet again. "You texting Anna?" Chad asked.

"Yup."

"How is she? All mushy-gushy about missing you?"

"Shut up, man."

That meant that she was. And Troy was likely falling into that trap too.

Suddenly, the lights dimmed and the crowd's babble hushed. A slender woman walked out briskly from the left side of the stage, confidently smiling. Applause sounded from the hands of the campers and a few of their parents.

Troy sent one final text to his girlfriend—"**hey sorry g2g convocations starting ttyl**"—and turned his phone resolutely off.

The woman began speaking. "Hello! How is everyone doing today?" she asked warmly.

"Good." The crowd murmured. Chad still had his phone out, and in the dark it seemed even more prominently illuminated. His fingers flew over the buttons, presumably still texting Zeke about whatnot.

"My name is Nana Wolfe," the woman continued and chuckled. "Easy to remember. Like Mama Bear. You can just call me Nana, though."

The crowd laughed. Troy heard Gabriella's giggle through the midst and her haste whisper to Taylor and Gabriella, "I wonder who Papa Bear is?"

"Well, I'm so excited and honored to welcome every student to EMF. I see some familiar faces, and many new ones, but one thing is guaranteed—by the end of camp, I hope to know every single one of you."

Taylor made a move to put her head on Chad's shoulder—and in the process glanced down to see him texting. She immediately retraced her head and glared at her boyfriend.

Chad didn't noticed, still immersed in his texting and ignoring the welcoming speech that Nana was giving.

Taylor gently nudged his shoulder with her own. When he didn't respond, she sighed in exasperation and resorted to poking him in the side. Before he could press 'send' on his text, she then jabbed her elbow into his side. Hard.

Chad sucked in a breath in pain and looked over at her. _What was that for?_, he mouthed.

Her mouth moved so fast he wasn't sure what she wanted to say. _What?_, he mouthed again.

Taylor rolled her eyes and shifted over, placing her mouth right next to his ear as to be as quiet as possible and not disturb Nana's speech. "You're being so rude—stop texting," she hissed.

Chad snorted—quietly—and replied into her hair. "It's fine, it's not like she can see me anyways. Nobody's gonna notice but you."

At this point, Troy glanced at the pair. He detected the lecture Taylor was about to unleash—almost silently, he guessed, and quickly made to prevent it from starting. He snuck his hand out and grabbed the phone from Chad, pressing and holding the red button to turn it off before Chad could do anything.

"Hey!" Chad hissed.

Troy whispered, "Taylor's right—it's rude. I'll give it back to you when this is over."

Chad grumbled and crossed his arms, finally focusing his attention to Nana Wolfe.

_Thank you_, Taylor mouthed to Troy.

_No problem_, he mouthed back.

* * *

The four entered the dorm lobby, which was many times fuller than it was before they left for dinner. People occupied their places at the ends of the ping-pong and foosball tables, while others sat on the floor, chatting.

"Gabriella—god, I am so sick of your name."

Gabriella raised her eyebrows as Taylor exclaimed, "Chad!"

"Oh, don't take that the wrong way!" He patted her arm. "It's just so damn long."

Gabriella giggled, and Troy's laughter from the other side of the couch joined her. "Sorry."

"Hey, what are you apologizing for?" Chad asked rhetorically before turning back to the TV. A moment later, he turned back to face the girls. "I'm going to give you a nickname, okay?"

"Sure. My mom already has one for me anyways."

"Hey, you guys should have nicknames for her too," he nudged Taylor and jabbed Troy in the side. Taylor snorted, and he protested, "So if one of us, like, talks to her and she can't see us, she'll know who it is!"

Taylor just snorted once more. "Ooh-kay."

"Go for it," Gabriella encouraged. "Gabi, Gab, Brie, Ella, El…take your pick."

"Hm," Chad mused. "Ella. Too girly."

"Hey!" Taylor objected. "I happen to like that name."

"Then you can use that as your nickname."

"I think I'll just call her Gabriella, thanks." Taylor smiled at Gabriella.

"I think Ella is actually pretty good," Troy gave his input.

Chad turned to his best friend. "Seriously?"

"Yeah."

Chad turned away and continued, "Gabi…ugh, too baby-ish…"

Troy laughed out loud, making eye contact with Gabriella. His azure eyes sparkled with mirth. "Chad, you're just stupid. Gabi's pretty cool too."

Chad scoffed, "Keep on going. Next, you're gonna say that Brie is the best nickname in the world."

"Hm…" Troy stroked his chin, pretending to think. "I think it is, actually."

"Dude, it's a type of cheese!"

Taylor and Gabriella giggled simultaneously. "I don't care," Gabriella honestly told them. "Like, I said, just take your pick, whichever you like best or feel like saying."

"I think I'll just go with Gab," Chad said resolutely. "Short and easy. Okay, Gab?"

She smiled once more and nodded, shifting her weight on the couch so her bottom wouldn't get numb.

"Hey dude, are you gonna claim a nickname? Can't take Gab, that one's mine." Chad asked.

"Oh, and I really really wanted that one," Troy said sarcastically. "I think I'll just go with whatever I'm feeling like saying at the moment. Gabi, Brie, El…whatever. That okay with you?" He directed at Gabriella.

Her brown eyes held the gaze with his blue. "Yup."

* * *

**AN:** Thank you so much for the lovely comments on the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed this one. Please review! Also, I'm looking for someone who is willing to make banners for any of my stories. If you're adept in Photoshop, or any other photo-editing program, and interested, please let me know. Doesn't matter how--through a review or a PM. You may get sneak peeks at upcoming chapters of this story. ;) Thanks again, and remember to review!


	3. Chapter Three

**Disclaimer: **I don't own _High School Musical_ or Eastern Music Festival.

**Not That Guy, Not That Girl**

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Gabriella lay peacefully on her mattress, her hands folded over her chest and listening to the sound of keys clacking. It was midnight and Taylor had an open Word document on her computer—"Something for school," her new roommate had briefed her fifteen minutes ago. Gabriella closed her eyes and hummed aimlessly, switching from song to song and piece to piece, not really consciously picking a single tune. It was something she always had a habit of doing.

Taylor resolutely closed her laptop with a _click_. "Hey, what was that you were humming?"

Gabriella's eyes slid back open and she shifted, turning so she was face down, on her stomach, and could make eye contact with Taylor. "What, the Music of the Night?"

"No, a few tunes before that."

"Love Story?" she threw out.

"No, it was something classical and I vaguely recognized it."

Gabriella contemplated for a few seconds, and then remembered. The tune once again bubbled from her lips. It was a piece that she loved, when she played it she was always moved—"You mean Beethoven's Pathetique, second movement?"

Taylor shrugged. "Sure. I don't know many piano sonatas but the name sounds familiar." She climbed up the side of her bed and flopped onto her side.

"Yeah, it's probably one of his most famous ones…" Gabriella trailed off, lost in the recording playing in her head.

The next few minutes were silent as each girl lay absorbed in their thoughts and contemplations. It wasn't long, though, before Taylor exhaled deeply, releasing a weary sigh.

"Tired?" Gabriella asked tenderly.

"Yeah…" the other girl answered. "The entire day just took everything out of me. Plane rides exhaust me to begin with, but then with convocation and all the excitement of meeting new people and stuff—"

"I know!" Gabriella exclaimed, interrupting. "I'm exhausted too. I love meeting new people and finding out things about them, but honestly…"

"Yup," Taylor agreed, sighing once again. "It makes you tired."

Gabriella giggled. "And pooped."

"Same difference," Taylor mumbled. A beat passed before she asked, "So, did you meet anybody before I got here? And what about in the last hour? You disappeared. Troy and Chad were sad that they you didn't say goodnight."

Gabriella laughed. "Really?"

"Haha, no, they didn't say that explicitly, but it would've been more fun playing ping-pong with you."

"I _was_ going to go practice again, but then I guess I got sidetracked and explored a little bit," she explained. "I went up and down a billion flights of stairs. Found the laundry room, visited the counselors' office, investigated a few of the practice rooms…I didn't get a chance to see where the fridge was on the boys' floor though. Actually, I didn't really go in the boys' floor at all."

"Oh, I'll show you around tomorrow—we're bound to spend a lot of time there, what with Troy and Chad's room on that floor and everything. The fridge is pretty convenient, it's near the stairs—if we want to buy food and store it there we can."

"That's cool," Gabriella yawned. "Oh, and yeah, your original question, haha. Um, I didn't really meet anybody before you got here—my mom and I asked this girl for directions, 'cause we didn't know where the stairs were." She smiled at the memory. "Oh, and while I was getting ready for bed I met a few girls in the hallway and bathroom."

"Cool," Taylor commented. "I met a couple more boys with Troy and Chad downstairs in the lobby—everybody seems pretty nice."

Gabriella nodded. "Yup…" she agreed before the image of the blonde girl entered her mind. "Actually, no. This girl was pretty…uh…mean—I was washing my hands and she got a little…er…touchy."

"What do you mean?" Taylor inquired.

_Gabriella stepped out of the white stall she had been using and moved to a sink. Turning the bright metal handle of the faucet, she allowed the water to run over her hands. As she was reaching to pump some soap in her hand, a patronizing voice interrupted her process._

"_Excuse me!"_

_Gabriella whirled around, and was met by the sight of a tall, slender, girl whose favorite color was obviously pink. The girl was wearing pink pajamas and had some pink cream spread evenly on her face. Even her nails were painted pink. Her hair was a smooth blond and she wore a snooty expression on her face, lips jutting out slightly._

"_Oh! Hello," Gabriella greeted her uneasily._

"_Hi," blond girl said abruptly. "That's my sink you're using."_

_Gabriella glanced back at the white sink. Sure enough, bottles of pink beauty products were littering the surface._

"_Oh, sorry, I was just washing my—"_

"_Suuuuure." Blond girl interrupted. "Please move. I need to wash my hands and wash off my mask."_

_Startled, Gabriella could only obey her command and shuffled to the left._

"What a b…witch!" Taylor exclaimed. "Yeesh! Who knew that classical musicians could be so catty?"

"I know," Gabriella agreed. "Hopefully, most people aren't going to be like that," she said optimistically.

"Yeah…" Taylor trailed off. "Wait…this girl, what did she look like?"

"Oh, she was skinny, tall, had blond hair—"

"Hang on," Taylor interjected. "Did you happen to see any, um, pink on her?"

"Yes!" Gabriella exclaimed. "How did you know? Did you meet her too?"

Taylor chuckled slowly. "Hah. Hah. Hah."

"What?"

"You could say so." Taylor scoffed.

Gabriella didn't understand her cryptic remarks. "What do you mean?"

Taylor sighed. "Yeah. So that girl you met—her name's Sharpay Evans."

"Sharpay?" Gabriella puzzled. "Like the—"

"Dog?" Taylor finished her sentence. "Sort of, yes. Except spelled S-H-A-R-P-A-Y."

"Um…okay…" Gabriella mused. "That's…hm…interesting."

"I can't figure her out," Taylor said suddenly. "She's always been sort of…witchy…but then at the most unexpected moments you see a bit of human in her. It's startling."

Gabriella thought about this for awhile. Then, a few seconds later, "I hope I get to see the good side of her. For some people, it just takes longer, but I have faith."

* * *

The bright sun glowed through the dark leaves of the tall oaks that stood sentry along the brick pathway that Troy's feet pounded as he ran at dawn the next day. The air was hot, humid, and heavy; his breathing was labored and sweat dampened his brow and T-shirt. No sound wafted through the air, so unlike the previous night where one could always hear strains of classical music.

Troy had decided that just because he was going to be at music camp for half the summer, didn't mean that he was going to lose his basketball skills. He was going to keep in shape and hopefully find some fellow people to play ball with. At home, he didn't want to start another round of the "You can't do BOTH basketball and violin" debate that his teacher, parents, and friends from both sides liked to argue, so anything to prevent that was gold.

Chad, being in the same boat as him, wholeheartedly agreed with his plan but had begged off from the run this morning, citing, "We're allowed to have a day off; we virtually moved from Albuquerque to Greenboro, North Carolina in ONE DAY. Yeesh." That was fine with Troy; he wanted some alone time to think and digest his new surroundings anyway.

He ran past Founder's Hall, where breakfast was going to be served in an hour and towards Milner, the name of his dorm. As the distance between him and the door got shorter and shorter, he reached towards his back pocket to pull out the lanyard that his room key and Quaker Card hung on. However, he witnessed a figure making its way down the stairs and then the silver doorknob turning.

Troy's steps slowed and he squinted. There were those dark brown curls, there was the slender figure, there was…_Oh, haha_, he thought. There, dangling from her hand, was the dark blue Beethoven book he had spied on the piano stand when he and Chad had interrupted the day before.

"Gabriella!" he called out.

It took a second for her to react. When she did, only a few feet remained between them as the corners of her lips lifted upward to form a smile. "Hey, you," she greeted.

"Hey!" he responded easily.

She looked him up and down, and it was during the inspection that he realized that his clothes were probably soaking wet. _Damn the Greensboro heat and humidity_. And he probably smelled just like roses too. _Wonderful_.

Gabriella, thankfully, didn't make a mention of it as she asked what he was doing up so early.

"Oh," Troy said sheepishly. "Just…ah…got caught in a rain shower, like an hour ago. It was intense. You didn't hear it?"

She cocked an eyebrow and after taking a look at his almost-genuine face she burst into giggles.

Troy chuckled as well. "Haha, no. I just finished a run. Although it probably _does_ look like I was standing somewhere in the rain."

They made idle talk for a couple more minutes, Gabriella asking more questions about Troy's "basketball side" and him responding with witty answers. Then he returned the inquiry. "What about you?"

Gabriella instantly began to fidget with her book, thumbing through the pages unknowingly as she said, "Um, nothing really."

Curious by the sudden change in her behavior, he wasn't satisfied. "Come on. Seriously."

She sighed, giving in. "Um…I was going to go down to Dana, try to find my audition room if the building's unlocked."

He guessed, "And try out the piano?"

She nodded, embarrassed. "I just…this audition is really important—it's the teachers' first impression of me, and first impressions are everything in this world. And I don't want to screw up."

Troy just smiled at her. Self-conscious, she shrunk away. "What." He continued to grin and she just became more irritated. "What?!"

"I just…" he ran a head through his wet hair, admiring her modesty and self-dedication to her art. "It's just that…you know you're friggin' amazing, right?"

"What?" she stuttered. "I'm not, honestly! What you heard yesterday day was just this technical sounding passage in my piece. I swear, anybody could do it."

Troy scoffed. "Yeah, sure…But I'm being serious too. Chad and I didn't just overhear _you_, we overheard everyone else in the practice rooms as well. And nobody was as good as you."

She began to protest again and he cut her off. "Relax, Gabriella. I'm not making fun of you or anything, in fact, I'm pretty much amazed that you're up before breakfast because you want to be ready for your audition. But you're gonna be fine! Yeesh, I don't know how to say it to make you believe it, but you're going to be _fine_."

His little speech was rewarded by the rise of agreement he could see in her mocha eyes. "Okay, so…yeah. Go to Dana, check out the piano, but don't psych yourself out. I'm just gonna run to take a shower," he was reminded by his sweaty shirt sticking uncomfortably to his body, "and then if there's still time before breakfast I'll bring Chad and Taylor with me over to Dana."

Wide-eyed, she nodded. "Um…alright."

After he nodded, as well, and walked past her and up the red brick steps to the door, she called out. "Troy."

He turned and raised his eyebrows.

"Thanks."

He gave her a slow grin. "No problem. That's what friends do, right?"

She smiled in return and began a brisk walk towards the auditorium.

"Friends," she murmured under her breath, testing the word. She didn't know how the truth to that word would be questioned later.

* * *

_Troy stood, carrying his violin by the neck/scroll in his sweaty left hand and his bow in his equally sweaty right. He didn't dare look at the judges—in reality they were part of the faculty, but he thought of them as judges, because they honestly were judging his playing today—instead glancing down at the tile floor. His heart was pounding, even though he had gone through plenty of auditions before, including a live one for this camp. His fingers began to tap against the strings on the fingerboard, seemingly on their own. It was all muscle memory, and Troy had played this section hundreds of times in preparation._

_----------_

_Chad breathed in through his nostrils and out through his mouth, just as Coach Bolton had always ordered the team to do after a particularly tough half. He could do this._

"_You can start anytime you're ready," the woman on the left, wearing a T-shirt with dancing sixteenth notes, said warmly._

_He tried to smile, but his mouth probably contorted into something more like a grimace. Taking one last inhale, he raised his violin, rested his chin on the chin-rest, and placed his shaking bow silently on the strings._

_----------_

_Gabriella lost herself in the thundering arpeggios, shaping them, letting the sound build and build and build before gradually softening her fingers' touch on the keyboard as she transitioned to a much more intimate part of the piece. She let the ringing chords fade and created a warm melody that seemed to arise from the ashes of a fallen building. This section always needed a lot of care, TLC, as she and her teacher had joked a month ago, but it was true. Her left hand drifted down in preparation to strike the low C. She lifted her wrist—_

"_Thank you," came the curt voice of the man in the middle, dressed in beige pants and a red shirt, interrupting her reverie._

_----------_

_Taylor instantly lifted her bow from the strings, internally panicking. What? That had only been two minutes, maybe three at most! It wasn't enough to showcase the range she knew she had—she hadn't even gotten to her favorite part, where her teacher had said that her technicality and musicianship intermingled best. Damn it, damn it, damn it, what the fuck._

"_Next, whenever you're ready, please turn the paper around on the stand in front of you and sightread the excerpt all the way to the repeat sign." The woman on the right directed, her curls bouncing as her head turned back to the scoring sheet in front of her. "Whenever you're ready," she repeated._

_Taylor sighed, but obediently complied. She counted backwards from ten before slowly beginning, letting her bow slide across the strings. She tried to pick out a melody and made it sing._

* * *

"How was it?" A whispered chorus of four voices startled Taylor after she struggled to push the heavy door open after her audition.

"Yeesh!" She glared at her friends. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Nonsense," Chad grinned, taking her violin from her and swinging his other arm around her shoulder. He squeezed her shoulder a couple of times and placed a kiss on her temple as they began to walk down the narrow hallway towards the lobby of Dana Auditiorium.

"So really, how'd it go?" Gabriella demanded as she walked backwards, facing the couple. Troy and Diana laughed at her eager face as they followed. "You guys better tell me if I'm gonna crash into someone," Gabriella warned. They just laughed again.

The group reached the table where Taylor had placed all of her things—her violin case partially hidden by her colorful paisley bag. She silently began to pack up, loosening her bow slowly while breathing deeply.

"Well?" Gabriella prompted again.

Taylor chuckled. "I think it went okay, I mean, they stopped me _so_ early, I wasn't expecting—"

"Oh my god, I know right? I told you to expect it—" Gabriella began while Diana made a sympathetic face and Troy murmured, "That sucks, man." Chad just placed her violin carefully into the case. "Well, I didn't think they stopped me too early," he commented.

"Hm, maybe it was because you were earlier today, maybe they're running late?" Diana mused.

Taylor replied, "Oh, well, what's done is done, can't do anything about it anymore."

"But how do you think you played? Oh, and how was sightreading?" Gabriella began her storm of questions once more.

Troy interjected, "Sightreading was pretty easy, there were no unexpected rhythms or anything."

"Yeah, no unexpected rhythms, but who would expect this really complicated mush of sixteenth notes all squished together? And the reason you think sightreading's easy is because your teacher makes you do it every day. I don't have time to; I'm too busy preparing other stuff for my lessons to sightread when I practice," Taylor lamented as the five strolled out of the auditorium and into a blast of humidity and heat.

"Aw, it's okay, Tay," Gabriella comforted. "It's all over, we're all done now, let's go celebrate!"

"Gab's right, we should celebrate!" Chad exclaimed. "Anybody bring any bubbly?" he joked.

Diana looked aghast as Troy just sniggered. "Chad!" Taylor admonished.

"Just kidding, babe, you know it," Chad smirked. "We're saving it for after the first concert—anybody in for a party?" He slapped a high-five with Troy, both boys openly laughing now.

Taylor shoved his chest. "Shut up, Chad." She turned to Gabriella and Diana. "They get like this, you know. Thinking they're all cool drinking—but when they're all hungover and cranky the next morning they swear up and down they'll never do it again."

Diana still looked a little shocked. "Yeah, yeah, I get that. But you guys know that if any Milner kid gets caught with alcohol, or anything relating to alcohol and whatever…you get kicked out? No second chances."

Troy and Chad immediately stopped their chortling. "Seriously?" Troy asked. "They don't even call your parents or anything?"

Diana shook her head. "Well, duh, they call your parents, but just to tell them that you're done with camp. No ifs and buts."

"Where does it say this?" Taylor felt intrigued. She hadn't recalled reading any such rule and if she didn't know this one, there were bound to be others that she needed to know.

"The rule book."

"Oh, is that the one in the back of the planner?" Gabriella asked. "I saw it last night when I was skimming through mine, but it looked like the packet they sent home with the acceptance, so I just didn't bother to read."

Diana nodded. "Yup."

Troy and Chad shared a dejected look. "Damn." They said simultaneously.

Taylor just giggled. "Come on guys, there are other ways to have fun without getting drunk."

* * *

"So we'll meet at Tay and Gab's room in ten minutes?" Chad confirmed as he held the dorm door open for the girls.

They murmured agreement as Gabriella headed toward the bulletin board, which had even more pieces of brightly colored paper than the previous night. "Hey guys, check this out!" she called out to them.

"What?" Troy asked as he came to stand beside her, resting his arm on his shoulder and leaning, causing her to struggle to maintain her balance before toppling over, all while giggling. She pointed to the yellow flyer in the center of the board. "Brahms solo audition on Thursday."

"No shit!" he exclaimed as Taylor and Chad immediately ran to crowd around the bulletin board as well.

Chad groaned, "Just as I thought we were done with auditions for the rest of camp…"

"Read, Chad, _read_," Taylor chastised. "Not everybody has to audition—only if you want to. You'll want to though, this is a big solo in the third week—I think that's when we're playing the Brahms, right?"

Gabriella shrugged helplessly. "Sorry, I don't have a clue as to when or what the orchestras are playing…piano, remember?"

"I don't know either," Diana responded, "But we can check when we go upstairs."

Gabriella turned to Troy, who was still staring at the flyer. He had a calculating expression on his face, though not of the wicked kind. "You're going to audition, Troy?" she inquired.

He didn't respond at first, his eyes still scanning the flyer. Chad instead answered for him, "Of course he's going to audition, he's Troy."

"He's Troy?" Gabriella puzzled. _What was so special about him?_ She knew that he was good and everything, but then again, so was everyone else here.

Troy came out of his trance-like state. "Hm? Oh yeah, I'm gonna audition. Gotta find out where to get the music though, it's not like I carry around random solos…" he trailed off.

"I'll go with you," Taylor immediately volunteered.

Diana had separated herself from them and was observing the ping-pong game going on the other side of the lobby. Gabriella moved next to her and nudged her in the side. "So…I guess this is all they're going to be talking about in the next few days, huh?"

Diana laughed. "Yup. Thank goodness we're not violinists. I'll stick to cello, thanks."

Gabriella reached her hand out and they slapped a high five not unlike Troy and Chad's earlier. "Agreed, no worrying about more auditions at all."

"But we'll have to deal with them," Diana teased.

Gabriella glanced back at the trio still madly discussing. "I guess we'll be able to handle that," she replied with a genuine smile lighting up her features.

* * *

**AN**: Happy New Year (and new decade)! I apologize for the huge delay in updating this. This chapter goes to _mini princess93_ and my friend Chich. Thank you, both of you, for motivating (a lot) me to finally finish this. Also, I wrote an RPF (real person fanficion) one-shot featuring our favorite actor and actress (yes, Zac and Van :D). Please check it out at _miltymoose dot livejournal dot com_. Thanks for reading, and please review!


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